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Tag: Addition And Subtraction

Summer time is a time of care-free fun for children. A time when there are no tests, no homework and no school thoughts at all! However, it shouldn’t be a time for your child to lose 3 months of math development! So to make the math retention a little more palatable for your young one, I did a little research and found some games that you might consider purchasing and helping your child retain some of that valuable information that they learned in math class throughout the previous school year.

Some of these are great for the portable hand-held games that children like so much. And the nice thing is that you can get used games for a very reasonable price.

So check these out and see if there is something that your child would like.

Improve your grades with Learn Math – A+ Edition as your personal coach! Practice with exercises ranging from 5 to 20 rounds each as well as a variety of mini-games all focused on grades 1 through 4, featuring 5 categories that contain a total of 15 mini-games.

•Practice math facts with the portability and easy-to-use touchscreen of NDS
•Stay interested with fast action and the Blaster narrative
•Experience the challenge of mastering 20 levels and three difficulty modes
•Play alone or go head-to-head with up to three friends
•Learn to perform math functions faster and with improved accuracy

The math game that is both fun and rewarding! Designed for children aged 6-12, Junior Brain Trainer Math Edition helps kids improve their math skills while challenging them with exciting games and puzzles. Make learning fun again with the game that keeps kids on their toes and eager to achieve higher goals!

Numbers and calculations can be fun! Take your lessons “to go” on your Nintendo DS with Learn Math. Progress through 10 different topics to learn, practice, and repeat lessons based on a syllabus for grades 1-4. Become a math wizard in no time!

Please note: The administrator of this website, is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking learn math blog to Amazon properties including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com.

I thought you might be interested in knowing a little about its history and how it’s used.

So I looked for an article that would do just that and found this one!

Learning Math With Manipulatives — The Abacus

The abacus has been around in various forms for over 2300 years. It was used for various counting and operational tasks. One might even call it the original math manipulative (unless you count fingers and stones). In my younger years, abaci were relegated to the bottom shelf or used as a toy for the kinesthetic kids. These days, abaci can meet the same fate that the abaci of my youth did. The first known abacus, the Salamis tablet, collected dust for over 2100 years. For all those lonely and banished abaci on dusty shelves everywhere, I dedicate this article on how to represent, add and subtract whole and decimal numbers.

As most teachers know, the use of manipulatives by younger elementary students helps them to understand the concepts of place value and operations later on. In my search for a variety of manipulatives to teach number sense, addition and subtraction, I came across a convenient tool in the abacus. I’m sure it was no coincidence that each row on the abacus included exactly ten beads, but there was no operators manual with the abacus I found. When I found an instruction manual several years later, I found that the manufacturer of the abacus saw it as no more than a counting device and had no idea of the place value power inherent in the design.

Representing Numbers With a Dusty Abacus

When I first started using an abacus as a manipulative in math class, I was teaching grade six. In the grade six curriculum, students were supposed to represent whole numbers greater that one million and decimal numbers to thousandths. If you count the number of places from one million down to thousandths, you get ten places. Coincidentally, the abacus had ten rods of ten beads each. I’m sure what I discovered was discovered long ago, and some manufacturers probably even send out better instruction manuals that make note of this, but at the time, it was a completely new discovery.

To make a long story short, I assigned each row a specific place value starting with millions at the top, and thousandths at the bottom. One could use a strip of tape or an indelible marker to label the rows. To represent a number, a student would simply move the number of beads for the value of each place in the number they were given. For example, the number 325,729 was represented by moving three of the hundred thousands beads, two of the ten thousands beads, five of the thousands beads, seven of the hundreds beads, two of the tens beads and nine of the ones beads.

I didn’t have a class set of abaci, so I made up little sketches of an abacus (six or so per page) and students showed representations of numbers using these.

Adding and Subtracting Numbers With a Polished Abacus

Once students are familiar with representing numbers using an abacus, they can move onto adding and subtracting numbers. The idea of adding using an abacus and place value is quite a simple process. Begin by representing the first number. Add the value of each place value in the second and subsequent numbers one at a time beginning with the lowest place value and regroup as necessary.

Consider this simple example, 178 + 255. The student would represent 178 on the abacus to begin. She would then add five to the ones row. Since there aren’t five more beads to add, this first move would also involve regrouping. The student would move the two remaining ones, then regroup by sliding all ten ones back and replacing them with a ten. She would then move three more beads since she already moved two of them for a total of five. Since there was some regrouping, there would now be eight tens. The students needs to add five more, so there would be another regrouping, this time of ten tens to make a hundred. Finally, the student moves two additional hundred beads; this time regrouping isn’t necessary. If everything was done correctly, the student would end up with four hundreds beads, three tens beads and three ones beads.

A variation on addition is to add the second and subsequent numbers from the highest place value to the lowest place value.

Subtracting is much the same as addition, but it involves “removing” beads. The procedure for subtracting is to represent the first number then to subtract the value of each place value in the second and subsequent numbers beginning with the highest place value.

Consider this example, 3.252 – 1.986. The student would first represent 3.252 using the abacus. He would begin by subtracting one one. This is fairly straight forward because there are enough ones available. In the next step, though, the student has to subtract nine tenths from two tenths. He begins by subtracting two of the nine tenths, but he then has to regroup one of the remaining ones into ten tenths. Once he has ten more tenths, he can subtract the remaining seven tenths. He continues by subtracting eight hundredths from five hundredths, and again, he has to regroup, this time, one of the tenths into ten hundredths. The final step also involves regrouping since six thousandths must be subtracted from two thousandths. In the end, the student hopefully ends up with one one, two tenths, six hundredths, and six thousandths (1.266).

Subtraction could also be accomplished by subtracting the lowest place value first, but this sometimes means more manipulations of the beads which means more chance for error.

Conclusion

The use of the abacus takes a little bit of time to master. It is important that the teacher and the students use the correct place value terminology (e.g. “regroup ten hundreds to make one thousand” instead of “turn ten green beads into one blue bead”), so the concepts of place value, addition, and subtraction can be transfered to mental strategies and paper/pencil algorithms. Remember, the best way to dust and polish an abacus is with little fingers!

By: Peter Waycik – Peter Waycik is an elementary teacher and a reading specialist. He supplies thousands of free math worksheets to teachers and parents every day at www.math-drills.com. He also runs www.edarticle.com where you can find information on a variety of education topics.

Learn Math In A Fun Way

Learning math can potentially be very tedious, especially for children. Often classrooms don’t truly help in teaching the skills that your child needs to acquire. If you want your children to develop an interest for math and create a strong foundation for the subject matter, it’s important to start at a young age. You should try making the math homework more fun to do by using fun activities that will help improve your child’s math skills. So, if your little one is complaining andbored with his math homework, you’re at the right place at the right itme!

You can try to make use of the food items or other household items for these activities. Snacks are one of the best ways to help your child master the basic concepts of arithmetic. You can make use of things such as crackers, candies, and other types of snacks. But, before selecting any food items, be sure that you can break it down to small enough parts to help learn the basic concepts of addition and subtraction. With the help of the real food/snack items, children can actually understand what they are doing. It is no longer a random or abstract method.

If you can’t use food items, try to make use of other items like crayons, pencils, paperclips, and so on. This can be a better option as they are easy to move, without getting messy or being wasted.

It is very important to have the correct approach for a child’s intellectual development. Boys and girls usually like playing games but don’t like the old school teaching. But the younger age years are the best time to learn. So to aid in a child’s learning, it’s a good idea to join together games and studying. That way your child can have fun with games and at the same time learn something new. Nowadays there are many different color-by-number and action video games, which can be extremely effective in reinforcing the math fundamentals that your child needs to be successful in life.

There are color by number books and e-books created for preschoolers, which will help overcome some problems with the standard learning process. The key benefit of color by number printables is that these materials turn the whole process of learning in to an interactive game. This means that your daughter or son will learn the concepts of math while enjoying various pictures and coloring activities.

Color-by-number pages can be found in a variety of artistic forms. You can pick from different fairy tales characters and/or pets, trucks and so much more. For instance, if your son or daughter adores Winnie the Pooh, you will find plenty of color by number games with Winnie in them.

No matter what profession your child will eventually choose, it will almost certainly involve math in some way. So make sure that they understand and are competent in their math skills by utilizing some of these suggestions now while they are young.

Mathnasium of Cherry Hill is always happy to help. Please visit us at our website if you have any questions or would like to help your child learn math.

More Mathematics fun for us! Please check out this article by Kyle Taylor:

Kids’ Mathematics – How To Make It Fun 30 Minutes A Day

In this article, we are going to give you tips on how to make math fun for your kids. You can take the information and use it to increase your child’s math skills 30 minutes a day. Although most of the games are 30 minutes, you may find yourself doing it for an hour. Kids love to have fun and we’re going to give them what they are looking for.

Rapid Kids’ Mathematics

Kids interested in mathematics will love Rapid Math because it requires competition, speed, and accuracy. This game helps students become masters of basic math fundamentals such as multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. Kids of all ages can participate in Rapid Math.

A minimum of four players are needed (one answering questions/one providing flashcards). Each player has one partner which will use math equations on their flash cards to answer math problems. There should be 100 flashcards per team.

The whole deck must be completed before the game ends. For instance, the child must understand and answer an equation no matter how many times it appears in the deck. Every time he or she gives an incorrect answer, the flashcard is placed back in the deck for the remainder of the game.

Why is Rapid Math a great way to teach your kids mathematics?

Parents can use Rapid Math as a game to encourage their child’s to seek knowledge. For instance, adding small prizes such as extra television time, recess, or a fun day at the park would make a child want to learn more to earn the prizes. The psychological and emotional impact of a job well-done keeps kids coming back to earn more.

Rapid Math can be an essential tool to ensure your child remains sharp in all areas of math. Parents can adjust the levels of difficulty from basic math to algebra; start your child’s academic future in the right direction by participating in Rapid Math to make learning fun. Other games are available for Grades K-6, but Rapid Math is the most effective in developing kids’ aptitudes for higher learning skills.

More and more educators are taking a new approach to teaching math, promoting not only computing skills but physical fitness as well!

Introducing physical activity into math games adds fun for the students. They not only reinforce the math they are learning but also get playtime and improve physical well being.

To introduce a game to your math students, write rules for the game using clear language that your students will understand. Written rules can help you remember the game from year to year and also help students remember how to play it. Make sure that your rules tell the students what to do in each step of the game and that they also state the objective of the game. By providing rules you are able to circumvent arguments between students about how the game is played. In addition, students are able to practice reading for information while they read the game’s rules.

If you’re using children’s literature as an inspiration for your game, read the book to the class before introducing the game. This hooks students, introduces them to the concept and generates excitement.

Here’s an idea: Explain the ancient race of horse-drawn chariots. Replicate the Olympic games by giving each student a straw and a cotton ball. Each team member competes by blowing the cotton ball from a starting point to a finish line. Have the students time each other using a stopwatch. Allow individual team winners to compete for the gold. Challenge the students to convert the race times from minutes to seconds or to total each team’s race times for a team prize.

Math is a subject that often requires repeated practice. Because motivating students to practice math problems can be a challenge, using math games in the classroom will help to keep them interested.

Math can get repetitive and monotonous for a typical elementary school student. Keeping your students engaged is critical to their learning.

Change it up. Play some online math games too.

Did you know that Monster Online provides opportunities for students to play free interactive math games through a knowledgebox link. Players can enjoy games such as, “Baseball Geometry,” to freshen up identifying and selecting skills concerning angles. Students can practice addition, multiplication and finding coordinates on a grid, with “Cowboy Math.” Simple addition and subtraction games can be found in “Big Count Bayou” while animal counting games or fraction conversions are found in the “Fraction Cafe.” Other online sources that provide free interactive math games are Sheppard Software, Fun Brain and CoolMath4Kids.

Since we’ve discussed the benefit of using math games for helping the math learning process, I thought it might be a good idea to show you some examples of some good math games that are currently available.

So here is a list of good math games that are excellent for helping to learn math and which are reasonably priced (all under $20.).

Math becomes an adventure with this addition and subtraction game that takes kids on a journey through Sum Swamp. They’ll make their way over the crocodile shortcut and through the endless loop by adding and subtracting the numbers on the dice. Includes 12″ x 17″ game board, four swamp critter markers, two number dice and operation die. For 2-4 players.

Learning valuable money skills is “in the bag” as you collect, count and exchange money all the way to the finish line. This educational game includes a 17″ x 12″ game board with spinner, 100 plastic coins, play bills, markers and a die. For 2-4 players.

Our tactile wooden block game combines the logic and strategy of Set® with the creative multi-maneuver game play of Scrabble®. Easy-to-learn rules mean you’ll be creating columns and rows of matching colors and shapes in no time! Look for opportunities to score big by placing a tile that touches multiple pieces and matches both shapes and colors; the player with the most points wins. 108 blocks.

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. Players add, or subtract, 1, 2, or 3 to the number on the top card on the pile to determine if they have a card that can be played next. Sounds simple, but with everyone playing simultaneously, the options are constantly changing. The first player out of cards wins.

2-4 players.

3 minutes to learn.

Plays in less than 5 minutes.

Great family or classroom game.

Product Measures: 6.0 IN x 5.0 IN x 2.0 IN.

Recommended Ages: 8 & Up.

These should all be lots of fun to play and in the process, help you or your child learn math!

Sometimes you just have to ask the question! But make sure you’re ready for the answer. 😉

The Role of Mathematics: -“Do you like math?”

Do a random survey among grade schoolers with the question “Do you like math?” or “Is math fun?” and the probability of you getting more nos than yeses is high. For a reason or two (most times, more than two), a lot of people (kids and adults alike) dislike mathematics. If we are to conduct another survey on things people wish they can avoid, skipping math courses in school will surely give the matters of dying young and ending up broke tough runs for the top spot. I’m sure most of you can identify as much as I do.

Unrealized by many, mathematical skills are necessary to fully hone the potentials of our minds. On the most basic level of analysis, mathematics sharpen our *critical thinking skills. Concepts like postulates, axioms, and integrals are designed to challenge the functional structures of our minds to solve analytical problems, from the simplest to the most complex ones. Mind draining as it is, mathematical concepts and theories test our mental abilities in terms of logic and sound judgment. Being subjected to excruciating math problems helps us realize the immeasurable horizon of our powerful mind. The rationale of the complexities involved in utilizing the ideal and most appropriate problem solving strategy to arrive at the right answer, or at least, the one closest to it, extend beyond the completion of educational requirements. The end goal of requiring us all to learn math is to make each and one of us a better human being.

On the more practical level of analyzing its importance, having sound mathematical skills makes us a better entity in the many dimensions of our social existence. During pre-school and elementary years, the simple skills of addition and subtraction trained us to gradually gain independence from our parents. It trained our minds to handle the simplest problems we encountered from our day-to-day interaction in the society. It equipped us with the necessary mental kit for a smooth integration and subsequent adaptation to social activities that mostly, if not all, involved computing and quantifying, like buying a candy or a chocolate. At the latter stage of our lives, mathematical skills gain more importance. As we grow old, we face more difficult problems that are both personal and social in context. As such, the need to make sound judgments is more amplified. We cannot all the time be emotion-based in making decisions. Actually, most situations we face in our adulthood years require logical and objective ways of dealing. Where else can we get that competent training for logical thinking and critical analysis but through the math courses we have undergone through the years.

But we have to make something very clear here. We need not be like the great masters, Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton to attain that level of confidence in objectivity and logical soundness in decision making. We can be competently rational enough through comprehension of the basic concepts of mathematics. We need not come up with new paradigms of mathematical systems to ascertain our logical powers, though it certainly will be a great feat if you can. We just have to attain a good level of comfort and aptitude in handling various math problems and constantly practice the skills we are already equipped with.

In www.free-ed.net, a number of math courses are available for interested parties. Each free online course covers a certain area. These may be areas in arithmetic and pre-Algebra (number and operations, whole numbers, fractions, signed numbers, and linear equation), algebra (mostly on appreciation and linear equations), trigonometry, and calculus. The sequence of topics in the trigonometry course gradually progresses in a very student-friendly pace, enabling students to better understand the very tricky dynamics of triangles and angles. A lot dreads calculus, but the course outline in www.free-ed.net allows students to determine their own pace of studying at their own convenience.

Every free online course comes with a decent number of exercises and training materials to make sure students attain formidable mastery of practical mathematics. These free online courses are best for young professionals who want to stand out in the highly technological work environment and for the fresh college graduates wanting to have an edge over their contemporaries. The math courses in www.free-ed.net aim to develop average to above-average mathematical skills among students who are interested in taking any of the courses.

Here’s an interesting article I found on Article Alley about how you can learn mathematics!

You are a high school student taking mathematics, more likely unwillingly
than otherwise. Your parents, teachers, school administrators, government, career
advisors tell you that you need to learn this subject. You may or may not agree, but at
least, you want to graduate from school with good grades. However since you entered
middle or high school math has been getting progressively harder and you have
become frustrated thinking that you will never master this subject. Take heart. It may
simply be that your approach needs correction. This article is for you.
To learn math, it is useful to understand the nature of the subject.
Mathematics is sequential. Imagine you are in a building and want to go to a higher
floor, but there is no elevator. You have to go by a staircase; but each step is high.
You cannot skip steps. You have to climb step one then step two, step three etc.
Learning mathematics is like that. You have to understand counting before you can
understand addition and subtraction; addition before multiplication. You should
master angles and equations before you tackle trigonometry. This means you should
not skip classes unnecessarily. You must master all topics, starting with the simplest
ones, especially key topics, not only for themselves, but also because they are
preparation for later work which you will not understand without the proper basis. Do
you think then, that you should miss classes unnecessarily?
Some concepts are more important than others. I think of balancing equations,
substitution, ratio, simplification, directed numbers among others. I say these are
important because they are used over and over in learning mathematics and solving
problems. So learn to identify key concepts (or have them identified for you), how
they are applied and how to apply them since they are used repeatedly. You will find
this more useful than memorising formulae. In fact with this approach you may find
formulae easier to remember, because they will be better understood.
Many learners have difficulty recalling mathematical facts when they need to.

You may have understood the fact or concept before, but at the time when you need
to apply it you cannot bring it to mind. Research shows that keeping knowledge from
being lost depends upon two things; how important the learner perceives it to be at
the time that it is being learned, and how he/she is able to make connections with
earlier learned knowledge. What does this mean practically for learning math?
While learning you may want to think about how important new knowledge will be
to you. Think about how widely the new concept can be applied , how will it help you
to do more mathematics? Of what practical use is it? How will understanding it affect
your grades? How will you feel as an achiever in math? Do you gain a feeling of
power when you rise to a challenge and solve a problem? Will this new learning help
you to regain that feeling? You may have to question your teacher or do some
research on some of these questions.
You must try to see connections between new and old concepts. For instance,
expansion and factorisation are applications of the distributive law, which is a
property of numerical operations that you have been learning from grade one; those
variables in Algebra represent numbers and you are used to numbers; balancing an
equation is a new way of looking at substitution. Concepts in mathematics arise
logically from earlier concepts. This stems from the second important property of
math, it is logical. As I have said before, always ask yourself, your classmates or
your teacher, the question why. The answer will usually reveal a link to a concept
that you already understand and accept. It is easy to make connections in
mathematics, for the concepts are highly linked. If you are not making the
connections, then you are not learning the subject, and to make the connections
increases the likelihood that you will recall the facts as you need them, and more
importantly, be able to apply the concepts in problem solving. Try actively to make
sense of the subject. I repeat. Do all you can to make sense of the subject. Do not be
satisfied to memorise formulae and methods without understanding them. You
understand a step when you not only understand how the result is arrived at , but also
why that operation or method was used.
Explaining mathematics to someone is a good way to deepen your own
understanding and a good aid to recall. Rebecca DeCamillis in her e book (see link
below) suggests working with a ‘study buddy’ or forming a ‘homework club’. In my
opinion, it is also useful to be on the lookout for mathematical patterns and uses for
mathematics in your daily life. You will begin to see more of the relevance of the
subject and you may begin to regard it more highly, resulting in a more positive
attitude which will help to motivate you towards learning the subject. You may even
begin to like it. Finally, try to have fun with math. Go online. Solve some math
puzzles, play some math games, join a math club, enter into math competitions.
You will get a lot out of the subject if you engage with it.
Read more at http://www.articlealley.com/article_2069927_22.html?ktrack=kcplinkhttp://fe1febusp4z2hvfbiiuyteh60e.hop.clickbank.net/